PHILADELPHIA – The Latest on protests and demonstrations on the final day of the Democratic National Convention:
11:26 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is calling on voters to “stand up to bullies.”
She says her mother never let her back down from a challenge, and “literally blocked the door” when a young Hillary tried to hide from a neighborhood bully.
Clinton says she still hears her mother urging her “to keep working, keep fighting for right, no matter what.”
She says that, “More than a few times, I’ve had to pick myself up and get back in the game.”
Clinton is closing her speech at the Democratic National Convention by urging Americans to look to the future “with courage and confidence.”
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11:24 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump is offering America “empty promises” and what she’s calling “bigotry and bombast.”
She says the choice is clear between the GOP nominee’s rhetoric and what says she is the Democrats’ “bold agenda to improve the lives of people across our country.”
Clinton says she didn’t believe it at first that Trump meant “all the horrible things he says.”
She’s talking about the times Trump called women “pigs” and said a federal judge of Mexican heritage couldn’t be fair to him and denigrated Sen. John McCain’s military service in Vietnam because he was captured.
Clinton says it “was just too hard to fathom” that a candidate for president could say such things.
But she says she had to acknowledge “the sad truth: There is no other Donald Trump.”
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11:22 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Americans need to stand up against “mean and divisive rhetoric” and heal the divides in the fabric of American society.
The Democratic presidential nominee is using her acceptable speech at the party’s convention to say Americans must unite to deal with gun violence, immigration and racial strife.
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11:18 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is questioning whether Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has the temperament to be commander in chief.
She says Trump “can’t even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign.”
Clinton says Trump loses his cool at the “slightest provocation” – when he’s gotten tough questions from reporters, when he’s challenged in a debate or when he sees a protester at a rally.
Here’s her take: “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
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11:16 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is defending her view that there should be limits on guns in America.
But the Democratic presidential nominee says she’s not seeking to repeal the Second Amendment.
The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has asserted that Clinton wants to do just that – and end the right to keep and bear arms.
Clinton says in her speech accepting the nomination that she doesn’t want to see people shot by someone “who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place.”
Clinton wants to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, suspected terrorists and others who would do harm.
Clinton says she refuses to believe common ground on the issue of guns can’t be found.
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11:15 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says the U.S. needs a leader who’ll work with allies to keep America safe.
Clinton says the presidential election presents a stark choice on national security, with the U.S. facing what she says are “determined enemies that must be defeated.”
She says people want “steady leadership.”
Clinton says she’s proud of the Iran nuclear and global climate agreements – and says both must be enforced now.
Neither deal happened while she was in government.
Clinton says she’ll stand by NATO allies against any Russian threats.
And she’s pledging to defeat the Islamic States group with airstrikes and support for local ground forces, while authorizing a “surge” in intelligence to prevent terrorist attacks.
Clinton says: “We will prevail.”
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11:10 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is assailing Donald Trump’s record as a businessman.
She points to Atlantic City, New Jersey – about 60 miles from Philadelphia, site of the Democratic convention. She says there are contractors and small businesses that lost everything because Trump refused to pay his bills for work they did in his casinos.
Clinton says Trump talks a “big game” about putting America first. But Trump’s clothing line is made overseas, not in the United States. The same goes for other Trump products, such as furniture and picture frames, Clinton says.
“Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again,” she says. “Well, he could start by actually making things in America again,” she says.
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11:08 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is checking off one policy difference after another with Republican rival Donald Trump.
She’s promising to appoint Supreme Court justices “who will get money out of politics” and expand voting rights, “not restrict them.”
Clinton is calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the high court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that’s especially unpopular among Democrats.
The Democratic nominee says she’ll fight to overhaul the immigration system.
She’s voicing support for raising the minimum wage, expanding health insurance and ensuring women are paid the same as men.
Clinton is talking about issues on which she’s moved closer to primary rival Bernie Sanders. They include support for companies sharing more profits with workers and opposition to what she calls “unfair trade deals.”
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11:06 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump didn’t offer any solutions to problems when he gave his nominating speech last week.
The Democratic nominee is citing several goals for the first 100 days of a Clinton administration.
Topping her list is bipartisan support to pass what she says will be the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.
Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business, and infrastructure.
Clinton says she’ll work with primary rival Bernie Sanders to make college tuition-free for the middle class and debt-free for all. She also promises to “liberate” millions of people already with student debt.
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11:04 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says her presidential nomination is a milestone on America’s “march toward a more perfect union.”
Clinton is the first woman nominee of a major party. She tells the Democratic convention that the achievement is special “for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between.”
But she says the nation must keep going until all 161 million women and girls in the country have the opportunities they deserve.
Clinton says: “When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.”
She says she’s happy for boys and men, too, because when a barrier fall, it clears the way for all.
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11:02 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says her mother – who was abandoned by her parents as a young girl – taught her an important life lesson.
Clinton says Dorothy Rodham told her: “No one gets through life alone.”
Clinton mentioned her late mother several times in her nomination speech at the Democratic National Convention.
She says her mom was saved by the kindness of others, including a first-grade teacher who brought extra food to share with the little schoolgirl.
She says her mother, who ended up on her own at age 14 and worked as a maid, told her daughter that people have to look out for one another and “lift each other up.”
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10:56 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says she’d be a president for Democrats, Republicans and independents – “for all those who vote for me and those who don’t.”
She says she’s met many people who motivate her to fight for change, including sick children and survivors of 9/11.
Clinton says “it’s true, I sweat the details of policy.
She says details should be a “big deal” to the president.
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10:54 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Democrats haven’t done a good enough job of showing working families that they understand what these families are going through.
Clinton says she agrees with families that have told her the economy just isn’t working.
She says Americans are willing to work, and work hard.
But right now, she says, “an awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do.”
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10:52 p.m.
Democratic Delegates have twice broken out in chants of “Hillary!” during their presidential nominee’s acceptance speech in order to drown out isolated hecklers in the convention hall.
Some supporters of primary rival Bernie Sanders still object to Clinton’s nomination and they were planning to express their displeasure.
Clinton hasn’t acknowledged any of the jeers or yelling.
Some Washington state delegates left quietly – with tape over their mouths – as Clinton spoke.
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10:50 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is telling Democrats at the party’s national convention not to believe anyone who says, “I alone can fix it.”
That’s a knock on her Republican rival, Donald Trump. He told GOP delegates a week ago that he’s the only one who can fix “the system.”
Clinton is accepting the Democratic nomination and warning that Trump’s words should “set off alarm bells for all of us.”
She accusing Trump of forgetting such people as America’s troops, its police and firefighters, teachers and others.
Clinton says Americans don’t say, “I alone can fix it” but “we’ll fix it together.”
She’s emphasizing her point by saying the Founding Fathers designed the Constitution so America would be a nation where no one person has all the power.
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10:47 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says she accepts the Democratic presidential nomination with “humility, determination and boundless confidence in America’s promise.”
Clinton says the slogan “stronger together” that’s been featured in her campaign is a guiding principle for the country.
She says it’ll help define a future with a healthy economy “for everyone, not just those at the top.”
Clinton says it also means good schools for rich and poor, and safe communities.
Clinton is recalling the book she wrote while she served as first lady. She says “It Takes a Village” envisions a country in which people work together to make “our nation better and stronger.”
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10:44 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says the United States has the most dynamic and diverse people in the world – and the most powerful military.
So, she says, don’t let “anyone tell you that our country is weak.”
Clinton is continuing a theme at the Democratic National Convention that seeks to counter Donald Trump’s starker vision.
She also says the U.S. has the most innovative entrepreneurs and the most enduring values.
“Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes,” Clinton says. “We do.”
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10:40 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says she’d be an inclusive president.
She says she wouldn’t build a wall or ban a religion.
The Democratic nominee says she’d try to build an economy that benefits everyone and she’d work toward a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants.
Clinton says she’d work with all Americans and the nation’s allies to fight terrorism.
She says: “We are clear-eyed about what our country is up against. But we are not afraid.”
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10:38 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump has brought the Republican Party a long way – from “Morning in America” to “Midnight in America.”
The Democratic presidential candidate says the Trump “wants us to fear the future and fear each other.”
“It’s morning in America” was an optimistic line from a famous political ad aired by Ronald Reagan.
Clinton is asking whether Trump would stay true to the phrase on the country’s seal – “E Pluribus Unum,” or out of many, we are one.
And her take? “We heard Donald Trump’s answer last week at his convention. He wants to divide us – from the rest of the world, and from each other.”
She says President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous words are the perfect rebuke: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
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10:36 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says she’s heard the views of Bernie Sanders’ steadfast supporters and says their cause is her cause.
She’s giving her presidential acceptance speech at the Democratic convention after a hard-fought race with the Vermont senator.
She’s praising Sanders for putting economic and social justice issues “front and center” – where she says they belong.
And she tells Sanders’ supporters the country needs their “ideas, energy and passion.”
She’s asking them to move forward and turn their platform into “real change for America.”
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10:33 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is returning the praise she has received all week from leading Democrats.
Clinton is delivering her acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination.
She’s thanking President Barack Obama and says she’s a better person because of Obama’s friendship.
She has kind words for first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and her running mate, Tim Kaine.
Clinton says people are “soon going to understand” why Kaine is so popular in Virginia, which he represents in the Senate.
She says Kaine will make the “whole country proud as our vice president.”
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10:22 p.m.
Chelsea Clinton is joining in the effort to woo Bernie Sanders’ supporters.
The former first daughter says her mother, Hillary Clinton, is a progressive and a fighter.
Clinton says her mom will fight to protect the planet, stop gun violence, overhaul the criminal justice system and work to secure human rights abroad.
The list is aimed at winning over reluctant liberals who haven’t yet let go of Sanders’ primary bid.
Clinton says her mother “always believes we can do better, if we come together.”
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10:16 p.m.
Chelsea Clinton is offering a daughter’s view of her mom’s life work.
The former first daughter says she’s had a “front-row seat” to watch how Hillary Clinton serves. She’s describing her mom as a diligent public servant who looks for solutions and dives into policy.
Chelsea Clinton tells the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on Thursday that she’s seen her mom surrounded by “stack of memos and reports” to review policy.
And she’s seen her promise struggling mothers she’d do all she could to help them.
Chelsea Clinton says she’s learned this from her mom: “Public service is about service.”
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10:12 p.m.
Chelsea Clinton tells the Democratic convention that her mother has always made her feel “valued and loved,” and she says Hillary Clinton wants that for every child.
The younger Clinton calls that desire “the calling of her life.”
She’s introducing the former secretary of state, who’s set to formally accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency on Thursday night.
Chelsea Clinton notes that her parents “expected me to have opinions” – and that they taught her “to back them up with facts.”
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10:10 p.m.
Hillary Clinton may not be a typical grandma, but she’s a doting one.
That’s how daughter Chelsea Clinton is describing her mom as she introduces the presidential candidate at the Democratic convention.
Chelsea Clinton says her mother will drop everything to FaceTime her 2-year-old granddaughter Charlotte – even if she’s about to walk on stage for a debate or campaign speech.
Chelsea Clinton says her mom will pause “for a few minutes of blowing kisses and reading ‘Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo.'”
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9:55 p.m.
Katy Perry isn’t afraid to get political.
The pop star prefaced her Democratic convention performance with a message for her young fans: Get out and vote.
Perry says the election is a chance to be as powerful as a National Rifle Association lobbyist – or a chance to cancel out what she’s calls “your weird cousin’s vote.”
Perry notes she’s been campaigning for Hillary Clinton since the Iowa caucuses.
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9:40 p.m.
A retired Marine general has delivered an impassioned endorsement of Hillary Clinton. And he’s blasting Donald Trump for saying suspected terrorists should be tortured and for offering conditional U.S. support of NATO allies.
John Allen tells Democratic delegates the election between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will help determine the country’s future.
As the crowd chants “USA! USA!” Allen says he trusts Clinton to be commander in chief.
Allen says that under Clinton, the military won’t become what he calls an “instrument of torture.” Allen says that with Clinton in the White House, U.S. international relations won’t be reduced to a business transaction.
Allen most recently served as America’s special envoy to the coalition fighting Islamic State militants. He’s also a former commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
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9:30 p.m.
The father of an Army captain – a Muslim-American killed in Iraq – has lead a strong condemnation of Donald Trump’s proposal to bar Muslims from entering the United States.
Khizr Khan is a Muslim who came to the U.S. from the United Arab Emirates. He’s accusing Trump of smearing the character of Muslims and other groups.
“Let me ask you, have you ever read the United State Constitution?” Khan said in his speech at the Democratic convention as he directed his words at the GOP presidential nominee.
Khan then said: “I will gladly lend you my copy.”
Khan says his late son wouldn’t have been allowed in the country if Trump’s ban was in place.
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9:25 p.m.
Donald Trump says the Islamic State group and the U.S. military “are playing by different rules.”
The GOP presidential nominee he’d “absolutely” consider using waterboarding on suspected terrorists.
Cheers went up from many at his campaign stop in Iowa.
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9:20 p.m.
The Bernie Sanders campaign is urging calm among its 1,900 delegates on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
The campaign says in a text message to delegates it would be a “courtesy to Bernie” if the delegates show respect to Hillary Clinton when she gives her speech accepting the party’s nomination for president.
The text tells the delegates the Clinton campaign asked her delegates on Monday to be respectful to Sanders when he spoke to the convention. The text asks delegates to “extend the same respect” to Clinton.
Some Sanders delegates are wearing high-visibility green T-shirts at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The delegates are expressing solidarity with the Vermont senator to the end of the convention.
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9:15 p.m.
Donald Trump has a message for President Barack Obama: You’re not “living in the real world.”
That’s his take on Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night.
Trump says, with sarcasm, that the president was describing “his beautiful world” and didn’t want to think about Americans who – due to terrorism fears – don’t “want to fly in airplanes” or “go to theaters.”
Trump made his comments during a campaign stop in Iowa.
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8:50 p.m.
Doug Elmets is a Republican who Democrats can cheer for.
Elmets – who worked in the Reagan White House – earned a roar from the crowd at the Democratic convention Thursday night when he took the stage and said he was backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Elmets says Clinton will be the first Democrat to get his vote – and he’s blaming Donald Trump for driving him away from the Republican Party.
He’s borrowing a line from the late Lloyd Bentsen – the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1988 – to tweak Trump for likening himself to Reagan.
Elmets says: “I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan!”
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8:25 p.m.
They held a political convention and the governor of the host state actually came. And spoke.
That was Tom Wolf on the stage Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and he was taking shots at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Wolf’s presence in the convention hall is a reminder that Republicans couldn’t feature a home-state governor at their convention in Cleveland last week.
That’s because Ohio Republican John Kasich is a former Trump primary rival and sharp critic. Kasich steered clear of the GOP convention
Wolf says, unlike Trump, Hillary Clinton will “reward companies that share profits with their employees.”
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8:20 p.m.
Chants of “lock her up” are going up at a Mike Pence rally in suburban Detroit.
It’s the most raucous scene the GOP vice presidential nominee has faced since going out as a solo campaigner as Donald Trump’s running mate.
At times, Pence had to wait for the crowd’s jeers of Democrat Hillary Clinton or chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” to die down.
They cheered when Pence criticized Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi attacks in Libya and when Pence praised Trump’s call to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
One of the biggest applause lines came when Pence said: “Hillary Clinton must never become president of the United States.”
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8:10 p.m.
Democrats are targeting Donald Trump in their convention speeches, and the Republican presidential nominee is getting tired of it.
He says he wanted to “hit” some of them “so hard their heads would spin.”
Trump isn’t identifying any of them. But he tells a crowd in Iowa that one certain speaker – Trump describes him as “a little guy” who he used to work with – particularly bothered him.
Might that be former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg? He had some dealings with Trump – a New York real estate developer – as the city’s leader.
By the way, Bloomberg is listed as 5-foot-8 inches.
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7:55 p.m.
Hillary Clinton says Americans are facing a stark choice in the presidential election – between her “steady leadership” on national security and what she says Donald Trump’s offering.
That’s according to excerpts of Clinton’s nomination acceptance speech that her campaign has released ahead of her Thursday night address at the Democrat convention.
Clinton is set to tell Americans that she understands their worries about turmoil in the world.
She’s says violent attacks in Iraq, France, Belgium and Florida have caused much unease and anxiety – and people are “looking for reassurance – looking for steady leadership.” She says she offers just that.
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7:50 p.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is offering a preview of her acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, where she’ll say “America is once again at a moment of reckoning.”
Clinton plans to tell the convention crowd later Thursday night that “powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart” and that Americans must “decide whether we’re going to work together so we can all rise together.”
Her campaign has released excerpts of her upcoming speech.
Clinton says her primary mission as president will be to “create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States.”
She says she’ll focus on places she says have been “left out and left behind.” She says that includes inner cities and small towns, from “Indian Country to Coal Country” and “from the industrial Midwest to the Mississippi Delta to the Rio Grande Valley.”
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7:10 p.m.
A Hillary Clinton campaign adviser says he’s not worried about winning over Bernie Sanders’ supporters.
“Most of them are going to come around.”
That’s what John Podesta thinks.
Podesta says he knows there are some in the Sanders camp who are still “emotional” and wish Clinton didn’t win more votes than the Vermont senator in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
But Podesta says most of Sanders’ supporters are looking at the election as a choice between Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
Podesta spoke after some Sanders delegates at the party’s convention wore neon yellow shirts to protest Clinton’s nomination.
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6:50 p.m.
Some Bernie Sanders supporters are wearing glow-in-the-dark shirts on the final night of Democrats convention in Philadelphia.
They say it’s a way to remind presidential nominee Hillary Clinton that she hasn’t brought them all on board yet.
For Clinton, the silent protest probably is preferable to the heckling and booing from that marked the early days of the convention.
Sanders delegate Davena Norris says her bright shirt is meant to send a message that more needs to be done to curb the influence of money in politics.
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6:45 p.m.
Donald Trump is campaigning in Iowa and largely avoiding the topic that earned him lots of criticism this week.
Only a day ago Trump encouraged Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by his Democratic presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s comments raised the question of whether he was condoning foreign government hacking of U.S. computers and the public release of information stolen from political adversaries.
Trump was condemned by Clinton and even some of his fellow Republicans. Running mate Mike Pence warned of “serious consequences” if Russia interfered in the election.
Trump has since insisted he was being sarcastic.
At the Iowa rally, he did say he wanted better relations with Russia and joked that writing letters was more secure than “putting something on a computer.”
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5:40 p.m.
Donald Trump says “a lot of lies are being told” about him in the speeches at the Democratic National Convention this week.
The Republican presidential nominee is joking about it during a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa.
“Boy, I’m getting hit” by Democrats – he says. “I guess they have to do their thing.”
Trump is criticizing Democrats for not talking about terrorism or laying out a plan to aid the economy.
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4:25 p.m.
Die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters from Oregon’s delegation say they’re demanding a nationally televised apology at the Democratic National Convention before Hillary Clinton takes the stage Thursday night to accept the presidential nomination.
The matter involves leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee that indicated party officials were biased against the Vermont senator.
The DNC has apologized and the party’s leader, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is resigning her post.
But Melissa Pancurak tells The Associated Press that those steps don’t go far enough. She says the Oregon delegates are part of a coalition of Sanders supporters working to get their demand to appropriate DNC officials before Clinton’s speech.
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4:20 p.m.
Donald Trump’s stand on abortion has been inconsistent, but his running says Trump would be a “pro-life president.”
Mike Pence is campaigning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he makes clear he opposes abortion. And the Indiana governor tells a town hall rally, “I don’t apologize for it.”
Pence drew the ire of abortion rights advocates in March after he signed a law banning abortions that were being sought because of fetal genetic defects. That law has since been blocked pending the outcome of a court challenge.
Pence says Trump would appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court who would send the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling to the “ash heap of history.”
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4 p.m.
“Disrespectful.”
That’s what Elijah Cummings thinks of liberal supporters of Bernie Sanders who chanted an anti-trade slogan during the Maryland congressman’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
But Cummings says he’s not upset about it because he’s a veteran of civil rights protests and understands the passion that drove the mostly young delegates to shout over his speech Monday.
Cummings says in an interview that most of those who were shouting probably didn’t know he worked with Sanders to draft the Democratic platform and he’s “never voted for a trade bill in 20 years in Congress.”
He says more than 100 people have apologized to him for the outbursts.
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2:37 p.m.
President Barack Obama’s mention of “fascists” and “homegrown demagogues” in his convention speech wasn’t aimed at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
That’s what White House press secretary Josh Earnest is telling reporters the day after Obama argued for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s election over Trump.
Obama said “anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.”
Obama had criticized Trump several times before arriving at that particular line in the speech, including saying that American power “doesn’t come from a self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way.”
Trump said in his acceptance speech at last week’s GOP convention that “I alone can fix” a political system he says is rigged.
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2:19 p.m.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is giving Hillary Clinton credit for her work on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Giuliani was asked at a Republican Party briefing Thursday in Philadelphia whether he took issue with the Democratic convention speakers who’d been praising Clinton. Giuliani said she was “enormously supportive and helpful.” Clinton was a U.S. senator from New York at the time.
He says Clinton “has a right to tell people that she worked hard on behalf of the 9/11 families.” He adds that, “She did.”
But Giuliani adds that “on all other aspects she fails the test.” Clinton and Democrats, he says, have “not done anything to prevent another attack.”
1:50 p.m.
This time, Bill Clinton will be the adoring spouse, rapt and smiling when the cameras cut away from the candidate in the spotlight.
He’ll be the He in the VIP box watching as She accepts the presidential nomination at the Democratic convention on Thursday.
It’s one small step in the role reversal Americans will need to get used to if Hillary Clinton wins the White House in November.
Already, satires and spoofs are circulating, taking note of Bill’s fashion choices, accessories and hair style. How about that fetching pantsuit! And that nice head of hair! Whose shoes is he wearing?
After all, that’s what political wives have come to expect.
Bill Clinton, utterly comfortable in his own skin, seems to be just fine with trading places with his wife, the former first lady.
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12:23 p.m.
Mike Pence says he has a lot in common with the Republican presidential nominee – just not in matters of rhetorical style.
The Indiana governor and Trump’s running mate said at a Wednesday campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that the two are “a bit different in style.” He then trailed off and paused for several seconds before adding that their differences also extended to the Pence’s family’s “balance sheet.”
But Pence said the two are united by a shared appreciation for hard work and value their families. And he says both had grandfathers who were immigrants to the United States.
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10:28 a.m.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says the CIA should give Donald Trump “fake intelligence briefings” because he can’t be trusted.
The Nevada Democrat tells reporters in Philadelphia that “they shouldn’t give him anything that means anything because you can’t trust him.”
Reid was responding to Trump’s call for Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails.
He says he’s sure the agency is aware of his suggestion.
He also says Trump may have violated the Logan Act that bars unauthorized U.S. citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.
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9:56 a.m.
The North Carolina Republican Party has removed a tweet criticizing Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine for wearing a pin honoring his son’s military service.
The tweet posted during Kaine’s Democratic National Convention speech Wednesday night said Kaine “wears a Honduras flag pin on his jacket but no American flag. Shameful.”
The pin in question has a single blue star against a white background outlined in red. It’s the same design as the Service Flag, which is reserved for families who have members serving in the military during wartime. The flag of Honduras has five stars against a blue and white striped background. Kaine’s son is a Marine set to be deployed to Europe.
The party hasn’t responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
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9:30 a.m.
The Washington Post says one of its reporters was barred from entering a campaign rally for Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence near Milwaukee.
The newspaper says Post reporter Jose DelReal was turned down for a credential before the rally and tried to enter through general admission. DelReal was stopped by private security who said he couldn’t enter with his laptop and cellphone. The Post says the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department verified DelReal had no phone after patting him down, but DelReal still was denied entry.
Trump banned the Post from being credentialed for campaign events last month.
Post executive editor Martin Baron says DelReal was subjected to “bullying treatment that no ordinary citizen has to endure.”
Pence spokesman Marc Lotter tells the The Associated Press, “Our events are open to everyone and we are looking into the alleged incident.”
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9:22 a.m.
Sen. Sherrod Brown is shedding some light on what he calls the “arduous” vetting process for vice president.
The Ohioan confirmed to reporters Wednesday that he was on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s short list of prospective running mates. She ultimately selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
Brown described being painstakingly background-checked, effectively deposed by a team of lawyers and interviewed by Clinton for 90 minutes at her home in northwest Washington. He said the process lasted 32 days.
The 63-year-old Brown had been adamant he was happy being senator and had no interest in higher office. He told the press he couldn’t help getting “a little more interested” as the vetting process proceeded. But he said he’s thrilled Clinton picked Kaine, who’s one of his best friends.
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8:42 a.m.
Tim Kaine says his one-time opposition to same-sex marriage changed because he realized that those trying to ban it in Virginia were trying to make it “a hostile place for people” he cares about.
Kaine, Virginia’s former governor, was responding to a radio ad in which Kaine says, “I’m against same sex marriage. I’m a conservative.”
Kaine said Thursday that as governor, he opposed an effort to ban same-sex marriage in Virginia. He said he decided “we really can’t discriminate against people.”
Kaine said he’s a progressive in the conservative South, which “may be different” than being a progressive elsewhere in the U.S.
He spoke Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
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7:30 a.m.
Tim Kaine is mocking Donald Trump for being ignorant of “basic civics” and wrongly saying Kaine was a terrible governor of New Jersey.
Hillary Clinton’s running mate was governor of Virginia – not New Jersey – and now represents the commonwealth in the U.S. Senate.
Kaine ladled on the sarcasm Thursday, suggesting that “you’ve got to give a guy a break who’s only been in politics for the last month or two and not that well informed.”
More seriously, Kaine said the presidential race is an “existential choice for the country” over questions like bringing back torture and “punishing people because of their religion.”
Trump has suggested reviving waterboarding against captured extremists and imposing a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S.
Kaine was interviewed on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.”
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6:10 a.m.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is dismissing heavy Democratic criticism as “mostly false stuff.”
Trump tells Fox News Channel in an interview broadcast Thursday that “I guess I take it a little bit personally, but you can’t let it get you down.”
The billionaire real estate mogul was interviewed following a campaign appearance Wednesday evening in Scranton, Pennsylvania. At an earlier campaign appearance, he encouraged Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by his presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton. This led to a fiery debate over hacking and his urging of a foreign government to meddle in American politics.
In the Fox interview he seemed to back away somewhat on saying he thought Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee emails, saying “who knows who it is.” He called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a better leader” than President Barack Obama because “Obama is not a good leader. He’s doing a better job than Obama.”
3:20 a.m.
Hillary Clinton has the stage.
Stepping out of the shadows of presidents past, the former first lady, senator and vanquished-candidate-turned-secretary-of-state appeared unannounced on the platform at her nominating convention, pointed a finger at President Barack Obama and gave him a hug.
Clinton had just been anointed the inheritor of Obama’s legacy with his vigorous endorsement speech, the candidate who could realize the “promise of this great nation.”
“She’s been there for us, even if we haven’t always noticed,” Obama said Wednesday, imploring the country to elect the woman he defeated eight years ago.
Summoning his most famous line from that campaign, Obama said: “If you’re serious about our democracy, you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue. You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport. America isn’t about ‘Yes he will.’ It’s about ‘Yes we can.'”
Clinton delivers her acceptance speech to Democratic National Convention delegates Thursday night.
